Philly Sports Jabronis
By Erik Bacharach, Phillies.com
Monday night didn’t include the showcase performance the Phillies were hoping they would get from Cliff Lee. It didn’t include the home victory the Phillies have been starving for. In fact, all Monday night included was a lot of base hits that yielded a similar result at Citizens Bank Park.
With many contending teams keenly watching his every move, Lee fired a dud in Philadelphia’s 7-4 series-opening loss to San Francisco. The veteran southpaw entered the contest with a lifetime 5-0 record and 0.88 ERA against the Giants in the regular season, but surrendered six earned runs while only lasting 5 2/3 innings in Monday’s base-hit extravaganza.
Cliff Lee was tagged for 6 runs on 12 hits in 5.2 innings of work Monday in his first start since hitting the disabled list with an elbow injury. Photo credit – Philly.com
“I felt good physically, I just wasn’t locating as well as I would like,” Lee said. “Hopefully I can iron that out between now and my next start. There were spurts of it, but I definitely need to be more consistent. But it’s not that crazy considering it’s the first time I’ve been back on the mound in a while.”
Lee allowed 12 hits — 11 singles and a home run — while walking a batter and striking out three in his first start since being placed on the disabled list May 20 with a left elbow strain.
“There was some rust,” Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. “When he was throwing strikes, he seemed to not be on the corners with his command like he normally has and balls were over the plate.”
Philly is now 19-30 at Citizens Bank Park this season.
Through the first five innings, the Phillies and Giants combined for 21 hits, all of which were singles. Baserunners galore meant opportunities aplenty for both teams, but for all their base hits, Philly couldn’t break through with the big hit.
The Phillies’ 4-for-14 (.286) mark with runners in scoring position — respectable on most nights, but outdone Monday night — fell short of the Giants .400 clip (4-for-10). Philly stranded 10 runners on base.
It was the first time the Phillies tallied 14 base hits without recording an extra-base hit since July 5, 1996.
“We weren’t too worried about that, but it would have been nice to just get the big hit with guys in scoring position,” Grady Sizemore said. “Guys were having good at-bats and really grinding up there, but we just couldn’t seem to get the big hit when we needed it.”
The Giants, meanwhile, delivered when it mattered most, including the biggest blow of the game.
Adam Duvall broke the streak of singles with a bomb to straightaway center field — his second career home run — that was part of a three-run sixth inning for the Giants.
“We scored some runs, but I think we could have had a lot more,” Sizemore said. “I think we let [them] off the hook a little bit.”
